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Finalists Announced for the Great Tech Awards

British Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, has announced 21 finalists for the Great Tech Awards, which is being sponsored by London Chartered Accountants Blick Rothenberg LLP. The award will give winners the opportunity to visit London and learn about setting up an tech business in the UK.

Nilesh Shah, senior tax partner with the firm said: “This is a greater number of finalists than ever before. It shows that the Government’s Great Tech Awards initiative, which allows tech companies in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania to take part, is really working.”

He added: “Many tech companies from the United States see the UK as the jumping off point for doing business in Europe and the rest of the World so want to base themselves here. It is therefore crucial that businesses understand what is involved and that we, and other sponsors, support them as much as we can.”

Blick Rothenberg will provide a $40,000 package for the six winners. This will include: general business guidance on a corporate and personal level, payroll advice, VAT registration, assistance (with opening a bank account and discounted filing for the first year’s financial statements) and tax returns.

Nilesh said: “We will organise a day’s conference when the winners visit the UK which will address doing business here and using the UK as European headquarters. We will also introduce them to US companies who are already doing business here, as well as members of the investment community.”

He added: “This joint initiative between UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), the British Consulate General in New York with firms like us shows that the UK recognises that it has a strong role to play encouraging tech companies to do business here.

Winners of the competition will receive a customised package that includes: a round-trip World Traveller Plus flight to London courtesy of British Airways; five nights’ accommodation, plus breakfast, at the five-star Corinthia Hotel London; meetings with investors, property agents, mentors, and government officials; and attendance at the Innovate Conference in London.

The category finalists are: for education: Admittedly, Noodle and Schell Games; for finance: EquiMetrics, InvestCloud, and SeedInvest; for health: Cytosorbents, Kinsa and Menssana Research; for Internet of Things: Critical Mention, Electric Objects and Research Frontiers; for lifestyle: Cater2.me, SmartLine and TodayTix; and for media: Contently, SeamlessDocs and TouchCast. A seventh category, Best of British, also has three finalists: Conversocial, Equivital and ustwo.

"The GREAT Tech Awards reflect the British Government’s commitment to helping the best and brightest American tech companies to expand across the Atlantic,” said British Foreign Secretary Hammond. “The UK’s world-class business environment is an ideal springboard for international growth, and the 21 finalists were selected from a field of 120 ambitious and dynamic firms poised for global success. I look forward to seeing these companies, this competition and the US and UK’s technology sector links grow and prosper in the months and years to come.”

An advisory board of industry influencers has chosen the finalists based on their potential for overseas growth and the innovation of their product or service. A separate judging panel will select the winners. Additionally, a Best of British Award will recognize the transatlantic growth of a British technology company that has successfully established an office in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania or Connecticut.